Favors

Okay, now here's a pic of my awesome favors!

Photo taken by Ryan Brenizer.


More pics coming soon, but here's what you're looking at: a pint sized mason jar filled with coffee beans from our favorite coffee company called Alpen Sierra Coffee, direct from Lake Tahoe, California. I first discovered the coffee when Joe took me for a trip there. Having lived there for 6 months, he knew the coffee well because he and his buddies used to stop at a place called Syd's every morning for a cup. I couldn't believe how good the coffee tasted, and I'm a total coffee snob (as is Joe, mind you). :-) So, we thought it would be a perfect favor for our guests and truly personal.

Calculating how many pounds of coffee I needed to buy was a bit of a math problem, and math wasn't my best subject! It took myself, my mom, 2 very friendly Starbucks employees and some good ol' internet searching to figure it out. In the end, it took 18 pounds of coffee to fill 60 pint sized jars.

I made the mistake of purchasing quart sized jars from overstock.com. I was seduced by the sale price but when 4 huge boxes showed up at my office, I couldn't believe how big they were! When I inquired about returning them or exchanging them, overstock slapped me with a $60 return fee for shipping! I tried selling them online but that didn't work too well so I eventually threw in the towel and paid the hefty shipping fee. Luckly, the pint sized jars (which ironically were not in stock at overstock.com) were cheaper and so I really only ended up losing about $20 for that stupid return shipping.

I used Ball jars and a few broke from my slippery grip, so I definitely recommending getting more than you actually need just in case of accidents. Joe helped me fill each jar with beans. The apartment smelled so wonderful while we were doing this project!

I purchased 3 different types of fabric with colorful designs using our wedding colors from City Quilters, a great shop down the street from my office. The women there are really helpful, but since I'm such a mathematics moron- I relied on their help too much and bought way too much fabric than I needed. Go figure. I'm sure I'll find some other projects to use it for though...

Anyway, next I had to cut that fabric into circles and let me tell you- that's a lot harder than it sounds! It was easier to first cut squares and then fold the square...and cut from one corner to another in a curve pattern. Unfold that and voila- you've got a perfect circle! We had to test sizes a few times to see what would look best on the jars but we eventually got it down. Joe used a razor blade to cut several layers of fabric at once. I kept handing him my rotary cutter, but he insisted on using the razor blade.

After the circles were done, I placed them over the jar and twisted the rims to secure them in place. I cut green ribbon and tied bows around the jars. I also made tags for the favors...but me thinks that's another post.

More pics to come soon!

11 days left!

agh! so much still to do. and why can't i update this blog every day? craziness!

here's the latest:

i've received a bunch of registry gifts! yay! oh how we love presents, lol. we registered at crate and barrel and target, against my wedding planner's advice who told us to just register at bed, bath and beyond because you can return things there for cash.

we got our engagement photos- yay! i ordered prints and i don't have digital images of them yet, so i guess i can't post them on here until later. sorry about that. the photos with our dog came out especially awesome! speaking of our dog...she's injured her leg and is limping/crying around the apartment. she's gone through this before so i'm going to wait to see if it heals on its own...otherwise, another trip to the vet!

we heard back from everyone but 1 couple. so far- the count is at 57 which i think is a great intimate number!

this past saturday, my friend (and lovely dog walker, dena) and i drove out east to port jefferson to do a cake tasting. the bakery that our venue uses is called le bonne boulangerie. i was seriously disappointed that they had NOTHING for us to taste, especially since i thought that was the whole point of the appointment and i had spoken with the owner as well as the girls behind the counter numerous times about the fact that i was driving all the way out from the city. eventually, we were allowed to taste a pastry with chocolate mousse inside (one of our filling choices) and it was divine. we decided to go with a beautiful design covered in white ganache (to save money by avoiding fondant but still get that smooth finish) and filled with chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache. joe gave me strict instructions because he couldn't make the appointment. he said chocolate, chocolate and oh, i want more chocolate. :-) yes, he's a total chocoholic, but so am i so i went along with it.

while we were out east, i picked up some local wine to put in the guest baskets/gift bags. can't wait to put those together!

i had my last fitting with a brand new bra! yay! everything looked great and i pick the dress up this friday! i need to drive into the city with my car to pick it up. speaking of the car...joe promises that he'll drive into the city this wednesday to pick up the boxes of mason jars that have been sitting next to my desk at work for the past month. they are for our favors and i can't create the favors until i get those jars home! ugh.

i still have SO much left to do. i'm having trouble focusing at work because i can't stop thinking about all the stuff that needs to get done. this morning, i suddenly remembered that joe needs to get his pants hemmed on his suit and we need to get a marriage license!

more manana!

Updates!

yesterday, joe and i had our engagement photo shoot. i sure hope we got some good pics! snapshots coming soon...will keep you posted.

still have so much to do! must find comfortable shoes...
make memory board...
work on favors...
oh yeah, and send out the invitations already!

more soon!